New Tools for Probing the Phase Space Structure of Dark Matter Halos

We summarize recent developments in the use of spectral methods for analyzing large numbers of orbits in N-body simulations to obtain insights into the global phase space structure of dark matter halos. The fundamental frequencies of oscillation of orbits can be used to understand the physical mechanism by which the shapes of dark matter halos evolve in response to the growth of central baryonic components. Halos change shape primarily because individual orbits change their shapes adiabatically in response to the growth of a baryonic component, with those at small radii become preferentially rounder. Chaotic scattering of orbits occurs only when the central point mass is very compact and is equally effective for centrophobic long-axis tube orbits as it is for centrophilic box orbits. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3458543 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-41505 Accepted Version Originally published at: Valluri, M; Debattista, V P; Quinn, T; Moore, B (2009). New tools for probing the phase space structure of dark matter halos. In: Hunting for the Dark: the Hidden Side of Galaxy Formation, Qawra, Malta, 19 October 2009 23 October 2009, 395-398. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3458543 ar X iv :1 00 2. 06 40 v1 [ as tr oph .C O ] 3 F eb 2 01 0 New Tools for Probing the Phase Space Structure of Dark Matter Halos Monica Valluri, Victor P. Debattista, Thomas Quinn and Ben Moore University of Michigan †University of Central Lancashire University of Washington ‡University of Zürich Abstract. We summarize recent developments in the use of spectral methods for analyzing large numbers of orbits in N-body simulations to obtain insights into the global phase space structure of dark matter halos. The fundamental frequencies of oscillation of orbits can be used to understand the physical mechanism by which the shapes of dark matter halos evolve in response to the growth of central baryonic components. Halos change shape primarily because individual orbits change their shapes adiabatically in response to the growth of a baryonic component, with those at small radii become preferentially rounder. Chaotic scattering of orbits occurs only when the central point mass is very compact and is equally effective for centrophobic long-axis tube orbits as it is for centrophilic box orbits. We summarize recent developments in the use of spectral methods for analyzing large numbers of orbits in N-body simulations to obtain insights into the global phase space structure of dark matter halos. The fundamental frequencies of oscillation of orbits can be used to understand the physical mechanism by which the shapes of dark matter halos evolve in response to the growth of central baryonic components. Halos change shape primarily because individual orbits change their shapes adiabatically in response to the growth of a baryonic component, with those at small radii become preferentially rounder. Chaotic scattering of orbits occurs only when the central point mass is very compact and is equally effective for centrophobic long-axis tube orbits as it is for centrophilic box orbits.